There is literally not one person who thinks that kids learn anything about anything when they’re allowed to spend their classroom time on their laptops and phones. Everybody knows that education has been given up on; everybody knows that teachers are just babysitting; everybody knows that the fix is in.
The only question remaining is: Can we lie about the situation forever?
That really is the question. I was just discussing this with a colleague last week. He thinks the game is up and schools and employers are going to bring the collegiate house of cards tumbling down imminently; I replied that humans have an extraordinary capacity for self-deception and for living indefinitely with cognitive dissonance, even in the face of plain contradictions. I don’t pretend to a prediction, but I am willing, at least, to believe that we could collectively perpetuate this particular lie for a distressingly lengthy period of time.